A Blog on Mythology and occasionally on Reality.

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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

A
recent viewing of a very popular Hindi movie, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has set me thinking a bit and I am reproducing
the thoughts here.

Every
hero has a reason to achieve his heroic heights, both mortal and mythological.
According to Greek mythology, Hercules had murdered his wife in a fit of anger,
and so he set out to atone for them and thus goes the tales of his twelve
heroic deeds. Perseus set out on an adventure to bring home the head of the
Gorgon Medusa just to prove that he was not a good-for-nothing Greek, but was
brave and could do what no mortal had even tried to.

In
Ramayan, Ram wanted to get his kidnapped wife back and set a regime of rightful
rule in Lanka and thus the battle in Ramayan, which saw his heroic best.
Hanuman wanted to do anything and everything to please his idol Ram, and did
whatever he was told to, in the process, achieving feats which were inhuman.
Arjun in Mahabharat achieved his heroic deeds by the sheer dint of reaching a
target which none could and become the best archer in the world then. Amba took
the birth of a eunuch just to achieve her sole objective of being the cause of Bhishma’s
death. Numerous examples abound in different mythologies, where heroes have
reached the peak of their heroism, at some point of time for something or the
other.

It
was no different for the ordinary mortal Milkha Singh. As a child he ran to
school to reach on time and avoid being caned by his teacher, and then during
the partition, he ran to save his life. Later he ran fast to avoid getting
caught by the railway guards. As an army jawan,
he ran for a glass of milk and then for the Indian blazer. He continued to run
for something or the other, till it became a habit to satiate a particular need.
Does this mean that if you do not have a material cause or a need, you do not
achieve heroic heights?

No,
many have achieved great success out of passion too. Many actors have achieved
stardom out of sheer passion for the art and not primarily for the money. Certain
doctors have achieved near-god status, out of the sheer desire to cure.
Environmentalists have pursued their mission-like objective just to provide a
clean atmosphere for the future generation without any gain for themselves. But
even here there is an underlying need, excellence.

So
what is the underlying common factor among all the above, irrespective of the
status of divinity or mortality that sets man, to achieve what is unachievable
for many? The word is motivation.
Nothing can be achieved without some motivation. Hercules was motivated by
getting to wash of the sins of murder, Perseus wanted to prove that he was not
a useless son citizen who could not afford a gift for the King on his wedding.
Ram was motivated to get his wife back, Arjun wanted to be the best archer on
earth and Amba wanted to avenge her insult. Even the mythical characters had an
objective, just as Milkha had different motivations at different stages of
life.

Without
a motive, there is no motivation. Even altruism is a motivation behind donating
huge chunks of personal wealth!

What
is your motivation and what does it want to achieve? If all of us ask this
basic question, we know what we want and where we have to reach. This objective
and the motivation to achieve it, differentiates man from cattle, the leader
from the herd.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

If you have not
given this question a thought, then let me tell you, that mythology has. And if
you have thought about it, well, then you sure are obsessed with questions!

In the course of
sex, who enjoys more, a man or a woman? Both Greek mythology and Mahabharata
(Mb) seems to have tried to seek answers to this question.

According to
Greek Mythology, Tiresias was a blind prophet well known for his ability to
predict the future. According to one version Tiresias once came across a pair of
copulating snakes and he hit one of them with his stick. Hera, the Queen of the
gods was not happy with this and she cursed him to become a woman for seven
years. After seven years, Tiresias came across the same sight again, but this
time he left them undisturbed. This act allowed him to regain his masculinity.
Once Zeus and Hera were having an argument, as to who enjoyed more during sex.
According to Zeus, it was women and according to Hera, it was men. Tiresias was
called to arbitrate, since he had experienced sex both as man and woman.
Tiresias answered – Of ten parts, man enjoys only one! This upset Hera so much,
that she cursed him to become blind. Zeus could not do much, so he gave Tiresias
the gift of foresight.

According to Mb,
after the war of Kurukshetra, before Bhishma decided to die, there was a
discourse between Yudhishtir and Bhishma while he was on the bed of arrows.
Among many questions asked by Yudhishtir, one of the questions asked was
similar to what Zeus and Hera had. To this Bhishma is supposed to have related
the story of Bhangashvana. Bhangashvana was an ancient king who was cursed to
turn into a woman, by Lord Indra. He was the only creature on earth, to have
experienced sex both as a man as well as a woman, and he also had the rare fortune
to have some children call him father, while some called him mother. It is said
that later when Lord Indra asked him if he would like to regain his masculine
form, he is supposed to have declined the offer, on the grounds that he would
prefer to live as a woman, mainly for the ability to enjoy sexual pleasure
more. Many later scholars have also added (lest this be seen in bad light!)
that Bhangashvana enjoyed being a woman, also because as a woman she could love
her children more than what she could as a man!

While Greek
mythology answers the question in an indirect manner, Mahabharata answers it
more directly. Unfortunately Tiresias had to bear the brunt of the ire of Hera,
Bhangashvana goes on to enjoy the life of a woman.

Greeks punished
the person who gave the answer, while in Mb the person gets a boon of his
choice, but in both the cases, the answer was woman.

Statutory Disclaimer - The opinions expressed above were that of Tiresias and Bhangashvana, mythical characters, the Blogger (i.e. me) takes no responsibility for their words and opinions!

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Last time we
read about Kharchi Puja of Tripura. Fifteen days after the Kharchi Puja, (July
30, this year) comes the second most important festival of Tripura called Ker Puja. However, contrary to the
celebrations marking the Kharchi Puja, Ker as the name suggests, is marked with
a sense of austerity and seriousness.

After the ritual
cleansing of earth (during Kharchi Puja), all the gods and goddesses are now
sacred and the entire atmosphere is ‘clean’. The Ker Puja is to honour the
guardian deity of Tripura called Ker. A large piece of bamboo bent in a
particular manner becomes the image of Ker to be worshiped. It is celebrated
in a designated area, which is permanently earmarked for this event. Prior to
the starting of this worship, all expectant mothers, ill and terminally ill
patients are removed from this area. Once the worship starts, no one can leave
or enter the area which has been earmarked for the event. If anything of such
nature happens, including a birth or a death, the ritual has to start again at
the expense of the person who caused the event. In Agartala, the capital of
Tripura, an area has been designated for such event.

Another aspect
of this worship is that once the ritual starts, nobody is allowed to speak
loudly, joke or make fun, speak lies or derogatory about anyone or anything
including uttering of slang and obscenities within the designated area. No
celebrations, music and dance is permitted too. The atmosphere in the area has
to be clean and not spoilt by anything negative, both in thought and actions.
Offering animal sacrifices as part of the festival is another important aspect
of the worship.

In the olden
days, Ker Puja was observed for the welfare of the village, which now is
observed for the welfare of the state. The deities are worshiped to ward of
all evil including natural calamities like earthquakes, floods and epidemics as
well as external attacks. Earlier the King of Tripura used to bear the expenses
of the event, but now the state government bears the expenses as a part of the
agreement of annexation by the princely state of Tripura with the Govt of
India. The beginning of the worship is marked by firing of guns by the State
Police to announce the commencement of the worship.

Ker Puja is
considered to be centuries old festival which seems to be having a tribal
origin. The same is being followed till date with all its austerity and
seriousness. Such worships of appeasing nature to ward off its evil effects is
a common phenomenon across the world. Different cultures have different rituals
to appease such gods and this ritual being followed with all solemnity only
bears testimony to early mans fear and reverence for nature, which people say
has ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’. Any disregard of its power is reciprocated with
vengeance, one of which we saw recently in Utarakhand.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

The week long
Kharchi Puja commenced in Tripura this week from July 16th. This is
the most important festival of the North-Eastern state and the entire state is
in the mood of a carnival.

The festival is
interesting, as it blends the tribal as well as the Brahminical aspects of
religion very well. The festival is characterised by the worshipping of
fourteen gods, more importantly, the heads
of fourteen gods, by the royal priest called Chantai. There are different legends lending credence to the festival.
Let us look at one of the most important of them.

According to
history, the King of Tripura, Trilochan had two sons, Dripakti the elder and
Dakshin the younger son. Dripakti was adopted by his maternal grandfather, the
King of Cachhar, as he did not have any heir. Soon the King of Cachhar died and
Dripakti became the King of Cachhar. On Dripakti’s adoption, Trilochan,
declared his younger son, Dakshin as the heir apparent of Tripura. When
Trilochan died, Dakshin took the throne. Dripakti on learning about his
father’s death claimed to be the rightful heir to the throne as he was the
eldest. When Dakshin resisted, a battle waged for seven days, where Dakshin was
defeated and Dripakti became the King of Tripura. Dakshin escaped with the
heads of fourteen soldiers and set up his kingdom in the area of central
Cachhar. Since then the descendants of Dakshin worshipped the heads of the
fourteen soldiers who were deified by then. It is said that after the death of
Dripakti, his descendants too started worshipping the fourteen ‘deities’ and
soon it became a practice.

a worship of Goddess Earth. Kharchi or ‘khya’ means
the earth and worshipping the earth which provides sustenance to all aspects of
life. Interestingly, the Kharchi Pua takes place fifteen days after Ambu bachi. Ambu bachi is the menstruation of the Earth and as thought by the
ancient people, menstruation was an ‘unclean’ aspect of a woman. In the ancient
times, during Ambu bachi no ploughing
or digging activity was taken place. The soil was considered ‘unclean’ and
women were prohibited from conducting any auspicious function during Ambu bachi. Even a priest whose wife was
in menstruation at that time was prohibited from conducting any ceremony. Kharchi
Puja is also considered to be the ritual cleansing of the Mother Earth of its
post-menstruation mess! Many even compare this cleansing to the ‘shraadh’ ceremony (after death) from
when everything becomes normal! Ambu-bachi
is very important in Assam for a similar reason, which we will take up on some
different day.

The rituals are marked with
the bathing of the fourteen heads of the deities. Sacrifices of goats and
pigeons form an integral part of the rituals. The worshipping of the heads, a
tribal influence, remains.

The most important aspect of
the festivities is the coming together of both the tribal’s as well as the
non-tribal’s in the festivities. A festival which has its origin in history
gets integrated with both tribal and Hindu mythology which hasn’t lost its
significance even today, is an interesting subject for mythologists. Earlier, we
have seen instances of popular myths getting ‘tribalised’, but here is an
example of the tribal myth getting ‘Hinduised’ (apologies for the English
bloomers!). The same integrates very well with the cult of Mother Goddess,
which is a significant aspect of worship in the Eastern parts of India.

About Me

Utkarsh has qualifications in Mythology, both Indian and World from Mumbai University. He is also a faculty on the subject of Comparative Mythology, at the Mumbai University, India. Utkarsh is also a regular trainer and lecturer on varying subjects at private organisations and educational institutions.

Utkarsh has more than 2 decades of experience in Sales and Business Development of IT products and solutions. He has worked with some of the well known IT organisations, some being start-ups, in India. Utkarsh is also a regular trainer and lecturer on varying subjects at private organisations and educational institutions.

Besides his Blog he is also a content provider to a few portals on similar subjects. Some of his short stories have been published in the well known literary story Blog, called LITIZEN. Utkarsh has also written a book on the subject of mythological-fiction, and working on another one, both of which are expected to be published in the next few months.